hooeham



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. HOUKHAM. -Metnlle Line or-Oord and Fastening for YSuspendingPictures, 8vo.

, No. 236,031. Patented Dec.' 28,1880.

be .U o 1D 0 ZW/mgl? @gli N. PETERS. PHOTG-LITHDGRAFMER, wAsHxNGTdN. DC.

2 Sheets-Sheet. 2.

G. HOOKHAM. Metallic Lin-e or Cord and-Fastening for Suspendng Pictures,8m. No. 236,031. Patented Dec; 28,v 1880.

N.PE|ERS, PHOTO-LITHDGRAFHEN. wAsHxNGTuN. D Cy Y. v V f /l Il'NirnnASTATES GEORGE HOOKHAM, OF BIRMINGHAM, COUNTY OF WARWICK, ENGLAND,ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALFRED LUDLOW, OF SAME PLACE.

METALLIC LINE R CORD AND FASTENING FOR SUSPENDING PICTURES, do.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,031, dated December28, 1880.

Application filed March 13, 1879. Patented in England March 24, 1876,and November 2, 1878.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE HOOKHAM, ofBirmingham, in the county of Warwick, England, manufacturer, haveinvented new and useful rImprovements in Metallic Lines or Cords andFastenin gs for Suspendin g Pictures and for other Purposes, whichimprovements are fully` set forth in the following specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention consists, rst, of the improvements hereinafter described,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in' metallic lines orcords for suspending pictures and windowsashes, and for other likepurposes.

f My invention consists, secondly, of the improvements hereinafterdescribed, and illusstructing the said lines or cords of steel wirecovered with a binding of copper or brass wire, and having, in addition,a binding of cotton or other thread impregnated with wax or otherwater-proof material. The wire binding is for the purpose ofornamentation, and is'not sub- 3o ject to any tensile strain, and iswound around the core in a close spiral, or spiral ot small pitch. Thestrain is borne entirely by the core. The cord is essentially differentin this respect from a wire rope having a central core. In such anarticle the wire binding, it' it may be so called,is coiled about thecore at a very slight angle, so as to bear the tensile strain to whichit is to be subjected, and is necessarily composed of a large number ofstrands; whereas in the present invention the angle is very large, andthe binding is preferably of a single wire, producing ahighly-ornamental appearance. The wire binding pret'- erably employed isa metal non-corrodible under ordinary atmospheric conditions, such asbrass or copper. The said binding of waxed thread is coiled upon thesteel wire forming the core of the line at the same time as the copperor brass wire, and lls up, or nearly` fills up, the space between thecoils of the cop- 5o per or brass wire and the steel-wire core. The saidwaxed thread protects the steel from the action of moisture, especiallyat any part or y parts of the line which may be bent. At such places thecoils of the copper or brass wire separate on the convex side of thecurve or benda and but for the under coating of waxed thready the steelat those parts would be exposed.

The core ot' the line may consist of a single 6o steel wire'or of two ormore steel wires. In place of steel wire for the core, iron wire may besubstituted, and metals and alloys other than copper and brass may besubstituted for the covering-wire. Threads of other brous material maybe substituted for the cotton threads described.

Figure I represents, partly in elevation and partly in longitudinalsection and in end elevation, drawn to a large scale, a piece of me- 7otallic line made according to my invention.

In the said Fig. I, a represents the central steel wire or core of theline, b the copper or brass binding or covering wire, and c the bindingor covering of waxed thread orother waterprooting material. The bindingsof copper or brass wire and waxed thread b c are simultaneously coiledupon the central core, a, the., coils of waxed thread alternating withthe wire of copper or brass b, as represented. The waxed 8o threadprotecting the steel wire'or core a from 9o the action of moisture. Asshown in the drawings, the wire b is coiled around the core a in closespirals, or spirals having a small pitch.

I prefer to employ covering-wire of about the same diameter as that ofthe steel Wire or 95 core; but I do not limit myself to any particularproportions.

Where a compound line is required two,

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three, or more ofthe said single lines are coiled or twisted upon oneanother after the manner of twisting the strands ot' a rope, so as toform a compound line or cord. A piece of compound line or cordconsisting of three single lines or strands coiled upon 011e another isrepresen ted in Fig. II.

My improvements in fastenings for connecting pictures and other articlesto metallic lines or cords are represented in Figs. III, IV, V, VI, VII,VIII, and IX of the accompanying drawings.

Myimproved fastenings are special] y adapted to be usedin conjunctionwith the metallic picture and other line or cord herein tirst described,but may be used with other lines or cords.

I will describe my improved fastenings in connection with the hanging ofa picture by means of the metallic line or cord before described.

In making a fastening according to my invention I take a strip of copperor other stron g sheet metal or alloy and bend or double it npon itselfat its middle, the bending being effected around a cylindrical rod orotherwise, so as to leave the bend ot' a tubular figure. rlhe arms orparts doubled on one another are in contact. Two holes, at a shortdistance apart, are made through the doubled arms.

Fig. III represents the blank from which the fastening` is made, andFig. IV represents elevations, taken at right angles to one another, ofthe fastening made by bending or doubling the strip, Fig. III, asdescribed. d d are the arms or doubled parts of the fastening, and c thetubular end. j g are the holes in the arms d d for the metallic line orcord to pass through, the said holes being, by preference, punched inthe doubled arms. The arms d d of the fastening, when in use, are closedupon one another, as illustrated in Fig. V and in the perspective view,Fig. VI.

In using the fastening the arms d d are sufficiently separated, as seenin Fig. IV, to permit the ring of the picture-frame to be suspended,being introduced into the tubular end c of the fastenin The said arms dd are then closed upon one another, as seen in Figs. V and VI, and theend of the metallic line or cord h is passed a short distance throughthe hole g in the closed arms most distant from the bend e. The end ofthe line or cord h is then bent or turned and passed through the otherhole, f, in the arms ofthe fastening, as represented in FiO. VI, alength of about an inch of the cord protruding through the lastnamedhole. The connection of the picture line or cord h to the fasteningisnow complete, no amount of strain which the line or cord and fasteningwill bear suflieing to draw the one of the arms d may be dispensed with,the fastening in that case consisting of a single strip of metal with atubular termination or hook, e, at one end and two holes in the unbentpart of the strip. This modification of my invention may be made capableof carrying a great weight when it is made of strong sheet metal.

There a very strong fastening is required I make it in two parts in thefollowing manner: One ot' the parts consists of the folded strip ofmetal hereinbefore described, in which a slot or elongated opening ismade, instead of two holes. rl'he other part, which I will call theangular part,7 consists of a plate having two holes in it, onesufficiently large for the line or cord to pass through and the otherhole large enough for the arms of the lirst-namcd or doubled piece topass through. The part of the plate containing one of the holes is bentnearly at right angles to the part containing the other hole.

rIhe two parts of the fasteninglast described are represented detachedin Figs. VII and VIII and connected together for use in conjunctionwith-a metallic line or cord in Fig. IX The part of the fasteningrepresented in Fig. VII is constructed as hereinbefore described, andrepresented in Figs. IV and V, excepting that its arms d cl are providedwith a single slot or elongated opening, t', and the other or angular'part of the fastening is represented in Fig. VIII and marked lc l. rIhesmall hole, for the line or cord to pass through, is marked k2, and thelarge hole, for the closed arms d d of the part of the fastening, Fig.VII, to pass through, is marked l2.

In using this fastening the closed arms d d of the part, Fig. VII, tothe tube or eye c of which the ring of the picture-frame has beenconnected, is passed through the large hole l2 in the angular part, Fig.VIII, as illustrated in Fig. IX. rIhe line or cord m is now passed iirstthrough thesmall hole 7a2 in the angular part, and then through the slott' in the other part, d, of the fastening. Vhen tension is applied tothe line or cord m the folded. part d is drawn into a positionapproaching parallelism to the line or cord, as illustrated in Fifr. IX,in which position the line or cord is griped tightly between the angularpart lc l and the end of the slot of the folded part d. B y relaxing thetension on the line or cord the unfastening or the adjustment of thelength of the line or cord can be readily effected in any of thearrangements of my invention.

I do not claim a wire rope formed of a series of wires coiled about acore of wire and wormed with hemp or other yarn saturated with oil, asthis is essentially different from my invention, but limit myself to acord in which the wire forming the binding is coiled in close spiralsaround the core, so as not to be subjected to a tensile strain when inuse. The improved cord hereinbefore described differs in its preferredform from the aboveA mentioned wire rope in the use of Wire, of

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brass, or copper, or similar ornamental and non-corrodible metal as thebinding.

Having now described the nature ot' myinvention and the manner in whichthe same is to be performed, I wish it to. be understood that I claim asmy invention-f l. As a new article` ot' manufacture, a picture or sashcord composed of the following parts in combination: rst, a steel Wireor core of required resistance to tensile strain, capable ot' eXure, butpractically non-extensible, as set forth; second, a ductileand inelasticmetal wire coiled around said steel Wire in a close spiral, or spiral ofsmall pitch, for mere ornamentation, as set' forth; third, a yarn orthread waxed or otherwise rendered Water-proof and coiled around thesteel wire, so as to till the interstices between it and the ornamentalwire, as set forth.

GEORGE HooKHAM. iL. s]

Witnesses:

GEORGE SHAW, RICHARD SKERRETT, Both of No. 37 Temple Street,Bz'wningham.

